April 04, 2006

The Chevy Backlash

A couple of weeks ago I posted about the consumer content creation trend and that many people, including GM, have jumped on the bandwagon with their Chevrolet brand. Last week, it launched chevyapprentice.com where people can create their own 30-second spot for the Tahoe by mixing the provided visuals and soundtrack.

It seems a lot of people went to the Chevy site and started creating spots. The only problem is that people have been creating ads bashing Chevy and sticking them up on YouTube.

Drew Neisser of Renegade captured the state of the CGA (consumer generated content) market when he was quoted in a New York Times article covering the Chevy backlash. He said:

"There's a gold rush fever about consumer generated content. Everybody wants to have consumer generated content, and Chevy doesn't want to be left behind."

While I applaud Chevy's attempt to enter into the CGC world it might have been good to think about the product they wanted help promoting. As can be seen from many of the spots shared on YouTube, an SUV might not have been the best product to throw to the wolves, in light of high gas prices and concerns with global warming. Likewise, Chevy might have spent some more time thinking about the brutality of some of the paradies that have become internet hits.

Co-creating with customers is a powerful strategy, one that can give a brand a deeper connection with its customers, but the strategy needs to be well thought through. The risk of not knowing your potential customers well enough to know how they will react to an opportunity to co-create can be an expensive lesson in the world of CGC.